Playing Double Agents
by Renolvr
Summary: Set two years after KHII,the Organization has once again risen to power-this time with all thirteen members on the one side,but Xemnas has his eyes on a certain girl,one who seemingly bears a resembelence to him - even if she doesn't realise it herself...
1. The Newbie

"Where are we supposed to find this person?"

Axel looked to the forgetful blonde after asking the question, knowing full well that Demyx was useless when it came to remembering things, as the ditzy youngster scratched his head, evidently trying to remember the location of the new member that was to join the enigmatic Organization, Axel rolled his eyes and turned to the other blonde youngster with him;

"D'you remember?"

Roxas nodded his head, grinning slightly as Demyx pulled a cue card from his back pocket.

"Hollow Bastion………"

"That's the place!"

The fiery haired youth just shook his head, and grinned; Demyx could be rather _**blonde**_ at times…and dense, but he always proved to be great entertainment!

"I reckon you left half your brains in yesterday…"

"Tell ya a better one Axel………I know I did!"

* * *

"Cid, Yuffie said to drop these off………and Merlin said to stop messin with that thing…"

The blonde, foul-mouthed pilot turned as a teenager walked through the door of Merlin's house carrying a box of computer chips;

"Leave 'em down dere Mai…and tell Merlin ta mind his own goddamn business!"

"Do I look like a feckin messenger to you? Go tell him yourself!"

Cid grinned as the youngster placed the box on the table he had pointed to, she was a mystery in herself, having no recollection of who her parents were or where she had originally come from, Mai had shown up in Hollow Bastion just after Organization XIII's downfall, and had been there since, she seemed to have fitted in perfectly, as well as learning an extensive vocabulary; compliments of Cid Highwind of course!

"I'm goin for a walk to Leon's if anyone's looking for me."

"No problems girl, and if ya see's Cloud tell 'im Tifa's looking for 'im…"

"Will do…Shera's looking for you, something about fixing a gummi ship you were meant to fix about a week ago…"

Mai walked out the door of the small cottage with a grin on her face, Cid could still be heard cursing within! She was seventeen years old, with long silverish-gray hair that cascaded down to her hips, golden eyes that seemed to have a reddish sheen to them and tanned skin; Mai was an attractive teen by any standards.

As she turned the corner at the top of the steps to the bailey, Mai walked full force into someone and stumbled backwards, both with surprise and with the force of the impact, but before she had a chance to tumble back down the large flight of stone steps, a hand caught her around the wrist and pulled her away from the edge,

"Sorry about that, wasn't lookin'!"

"Hey, don't worry about it, accidents happen…"

Mai looked to the person she had collided with; he looked to be about the same age as herself and had spiky, sandy-brown hair, aswell as vivid blue eyes. With him stood another young man, this one; with longish silver hair, cut in a layered and slightly spiky fashion, aswell as green eyes, and two teenage girls; one with medium length blonde hair and the other with medium length dark red hair, both girls appeared to be extremely similar in looks. As they lapsed into a silence, Mai took the initiative to talk;

"I'm Mai, are you guys lookin for someone in particular?"

The youngster she had bumped into was the one to answer her question and list their own names;

"Yeah, we're looking for Leon, by the way; I'm Sora, this is Riku, Kairi and Namine, you don't know where he is, do you?"

At this Mai actually grinned, she'd heard many tales of the two young men, the two had been the ones to cause the downfall of the both; revered and feared "Organization XIII", and as far as she knew; Kairi was originally from Hollow Bastion, or, by it's old name; Radiant Garden, and was a Princess of Heart, but one thing confused her; wasn't Namine Kairi's Nobody…or something along those lines? But it looked as if questions would have to wait until later,

"Yeah, I'm headin over there now if you want to follow, I think I fancy annoyin him for a while, not sure yet…"

Sora grinned as the teenager pretended to consider this option for a minute or so, but something bugged him about her; why did she look so familiar? Where had he seen that silver head of hair and those golden eyes before?

As they walked towards Ansem the Wise's old lab, Riku looked to Mai, she seemed familiar to him too, but he just put it down to déjà vu, or something to that effect…

"So…how long have you been here Mai?"

"Eh…about two years, I arrived shortly after you guys beat the Organization…"

Riku nodded, still intrigued about the girl;

"Where you originally from, so?"

At this Mai actually laughed, she'd asked herself that question on many occasions over the two years as it was…

"I'd tell you if I knew Riku, but all I can remember is waking up in Merlin's house two years ago and being told that Cloud had found me just outside the crystal fissure, other than that; it's a blank, with a capitol "B"…_**Oh Leon**_………"

Leon smiled as he recognised the sing-song voice wafting through the open door of Ansem's old lab,

"Yes, Mai…what's wrong with you?"

"What's fuckin right with me!"

"Very little…and stop cursing, I've enough with Cid doing it as well as you!"

"Ah, bite me………oh yeah, you've visitors…two of which have keyblades…"

Leon looked up from the computer at which he was working, to see a pleasantly familiar face, Sora. He smiled, despite, a nagging feeling, if the warriors of the Keyblade were back, then there was something up………Sora saw the hesitant look in his old friend's eyes, and jumped to the point;

"Destiny Island was attacked by Heartless…and Nobodies, if the Nobodies are back, then there's something seriously up,"

"You think the Organization is back?"

Sora nodded in reply;

"Another reason that's likely is this; meet Namine………"

Mai finished his sentence without even thinking;

"Kairi's Nobody…"

Both Riku and Sora turned to face the teenager, no one, but themselves knew of Namine…and Roxas………Sora stared at her confused;

"How did you know that?"

"I…"

Mai thought for a minute or so, only to come to the conclusion that she had no idea of how she'd known of the blonde girl, it had just been in her head…"

"…have no idea………"

Riku let the matter lie and turned back to Leon;

"Can you get in touch with King Mickey?"

"Mmm…it'll be a few days or a week before he can get here, you guys are welcome to stay in the mean time, I'm sure Mai'd be happy to have some people her own age around…"

"Awww, you sound all daddy-like and protective Leon…"

"Can't you even _**act**_ serious Mai?"

"Serious! This_** is**_ me acting serious, can't you tell?"

"There's something else, how I'm sure the Organization are back…"

All heads turned towards the blonde girl as she spoke;

"Roxas went back to The World That Never Was…"

Leon looked at Sora with a questioning glare, the young man honestly had no idea who "**_Roxas_**" was, Sora grinned as he noticed this and answered the obvious oncoming question,

"He's my Nobody…"

"You sure as hell know how to confuse a girl anyhow!!"

Mai looked from Sora to Leon, who grinned widely as the hyperactive teen continued;

"Is this the new fashion…having a Nobody-"

The rest of her jeer was cut short by a strange sensation; it felt like a sort of tingling…Mai got to her feet just as a voice echoed through the very air of Hollow Bastion itself…

"_**Come out, come out, wherever you are…**_"

By the time the group of six made their way to bailey, three cloaked figures could be seen standing on top of it, each one with their weapon, or weapons drawn in preparation of a fight as a small group had accumulated below, consisting of; Tifa, Cloud, Cid, and Yuffie. (In case any of you lot are wondering, this is a crossover between KHII and FFVII, so there's no Aerith in it coz she's dead and it's after Advent Children, so I made Cloud and Tifa "involved", there'll be a lot more FFVII characters showing up in this than in the game, k?)

"What do you want?"

Axel grinned at Cloud's question as he lowered his hood; the other two did the same.

"Awww, you don't sound happy to see us…"

The fiery haired youth pretended to be hurt by the ex-SOLDIER's comment. Cloud on the other hand was severely confused as he stared at the youngster;

"Reno…what the hell are you doing here?!"

Axel's grin disappeared from his face at lightning speed upon hearing the familiar name, even though it had been years upon years since he'd seen the owner of it,

"Not me, but near enough; he's my brother…"

Demyx stood straight, as did Roxas as they both stared at Axel, shock evident on their faces as they spoke in unison;

"_**You've a brother?!**_"

"Yep, I'm originally from Midgar…a slums kid!"

"I thought y'all were gone?"

Demyx stood next to the still, slightly, confused Axel, and grinnned widely down at Cid;

"Are you not happy to see us? I'm hurt by that I am!"

"Give it a rest, you don't have a heart to hurt dipshit!"

Demyx turned, as the female voice echoed from behind them, but his retort seemed to die in his throat as he spotted the owner of the voice; Mai,

"Hey, Roxas, who does she look like to you?"

Roxas didn't even bother to look around as Demyx continued his paranoid staring at Mai;

"I know that Namine looks like Kairi, you idiot! And would you two ever pay attention, we were sent here to get someone…and I don't fancy being on the receiving end of Xemnas's temper again, I'm still hurting from last time…"

At this Roxas clutched the left side of his chest, evidently in pain. He'd paid for his deserting of the Organization, many times over at this stage with both his blood and his bruises. It seemed that Xemnas didn't believe in just one punishment, whenever the Superior got, somewhat, pissed off; it always seemed to be Roxas who took the brunt of it…

"I'm not on about your ex, you moron! **LOOK**!"

Both Axel and Roxas turned in unison, both prepared to let shout at the blonde, but both stopped dead in their tracks upon seeing the girl Demyx was pointing at; Mai.

* * *

"Someone fancy tellin me what I did?"

Mai looked hopefully to the other five, all of which shrugged their shoulders, completely and honestly at a loss, as the three-cloaked youths continued to talk among themselves, Axel looked to his comrades, a small smile playing on his lips;

"If he's her Dad…then who's her Mam?"

Roxas grinned all the wider as he gave a clue;

"How many women are in the Organization?"

Demyx shuddered as he thought of this, then turned his attention back to the present matter;

"Who's gonna call back up? You heard the orders; _if the Keyblade's chosen one shows up were to call in the rest…"_

Both Roxas and Demyx looked to Axel, the fiery-haired youth shrugged;

"Fine………hey Cloud, if you see Reno, tell him Alex said well!"

"**_Alex?"_**

"Yes Roxas, that's my true name…fuck, you're all rather _**blonde **_today!"

Axel shook his head and summoned a dusk;

"Find the Superior."

The dusk then disappeared, evidently carrying the message back to the Organization's stronghold. Within minutes, ten additional cloaked figures appeared.

"Where is she?"

Roxas pointed towards the teenage girl as Xemnas spoke; The Superior surveyed the youngster from beneath his black hood, as did Larxene, it was odd, there she stood and neither of the two felt any emotion towards her………

"We all just gonna stand here or what? Coz if so, I've better things to be doin!"

Xemnas simply smirked and lowered his hood as Mai spoke, Larxene did the same with hers and stepped forward so as she was now situated alongside the Organization's leader, then Xemnas spoke, in a, somewhat, smug tone;

"You would fight us…_your own parents?"_


	2. Hurt

Mai stood fast, even though her head was spinning with questions; _her parents_...

"Back off Xemnas!"

Sora stood forward, as did Riku, both with their keyblades in hand, Leon followed their initiative and stood in front of Mai with Revolver raised.

"How can you have a daughter, you're a Nobody!"

Xemnas simply smirked at Leon's words;

"Look at her and tell me if there is no resemblance..."

Despite himself; Leon did chance a quick glance at his friend, and realised how much she did, in fact, resemble the man...the nobody; the same silver-grey hair, the same golden eyes with a red sheen, the same tanned complexion, even the same enigmatic smirk at times...

* * *

Roxas drew his two keyblades and stood forward, towards his other; Sora, but stopped short of attacking as Xemnas's voice was heard;

"Wait..."

Roxas turned; momentarily forgetting whom it was he was speaking to;

_**"What!?"**_

A crashing force sent the seventeen year old hurtling into a stone wall, evidently with formidable strength as the wall crumbled to ruins as the youth fell to the ground.

"Do not try my patience Roxas, you are lucky to even exist within this organization and not as a dusk at this stage...get up and face me!"

Roxas grudgingly pulled himself to his feet, knowing full well that Xemnas wasn't finished yet...

Another blast hit the teenager square into the chest and sent him hurtling over the edge of the bailey...

Cloud and the others that had gathered below watched as the teen hit the cold pavement hard, evidently surprised by the ferocity of the Organization's leader's action towards him.

* * *

"Y'all rite kid?"

Roxas groaned as he forced himself to his feet, pain shot through the left side of his chest, from what he could judge; Xemnas' blast had broken the ribs on that side, the ones that had only just healed since the last time he'd lost his temper with the key-bearer. He looked to who had spoken; a blonde man with goggles on his head;

"Cid…Cid Highwind right?"

"Yeah, but how'd you know dat?"

"S...Sora knows you...ahhh - fucking son of a bitch Xemnas!"

Roxas cursed the Superior as pain continued to sear through him. Cloud appeared alongside his friend, but lowered his buster sword upon seeing the state the youngster was in; a deep gash above his right eyebrow trickled blood down the side of his face, and judging by how he was leaning his weight on the wall beside him and clutching the left side of his ribcage; several broken ribs were present, aswell as numerous cuts and bruises.

"C...Cloud Strife?"

The blonde nodded as Roxas continued;

"Tell Namine…I'm sorry…"

Before Cloud had a chance to glean anymore information from the seventeen year old, his eyes rolled back in their sockets as he passed out...

* * *

As the fighting began on top the Bailey; it became apparent that Mai was a force to be reckoned with when it came to swordsmanship; she wielded twin samurai swords and could better even Cloud…if she bothered to put her mind to it…

"You do not remember?"

Mai shook her head as one of her swords made contact with that of one of Xemnas' aerial blades,

"Nope…"

"My old mentor is sly at the very least………where is Roxas?"

Marluxia only grinned, as The Superior looked around, unable to locate the youth in the midst of the fighting;

"You sent him down there, I didn't hear a splatter; so he should still be in one piece…"

"Get him…"

* * *

Cid started back as a dark portal seemingly materialized out of thin air; a young man with pink hair stepped out, followed closely by Axel, both looked around, evidently in search of something, Axel scratched the side of his head lightly;

"Where'd Roxas go?"

"De kid's hurt an' out for de count…"

"Oh, right…do us a favour?"

Cloud appeared back alongside his friend, having helped to carry the unconscious teenager inside of Merlin's house…

"And why would we do that?"

"Eh…coz we asked nicely, got it memorized? Just meet us at the crystal fissure at about two tonight, it'll only be me, flower-power over there and shit for brains up there…"

As he said this; Axel indicated both Marluxia and Demyx…

"Where **_is_ **he already?"

Xigbar appeared out of a portal behind the two youths, who quickly made to attack Cloud and Cid, but as he parried a blow from Axel; Cloud became aware of how little force was actually behind the attack, it was only a façade…

"Where's key-boy gone?"

"They have him…"

The eye-patch wearing sharp-shooter looked to whom Marluxia indicated; Cid and Cloud…

* * *

"Xemnas, they've the kid…"

Xemnas cursed to himself mentally as he heard Xigbar's statement; he needed Roxas to unlock Mai's memories…really he should of thought of that before attacking the youngster………

* * *

"Mai, move!"

Mai moved quickly as she heard Sora's shout, out of his line of fire as his Keyblade sent a beam of it's mythical power towards the leader of the Organization, or so she thought…a force to her back sent her tumbling forward into…nothingness? Before anyone had time to comprehend what had just happened; Mai stood in front of Xemnas, instead of the Keyblade's blast hitting the lead nobody, it struck Mai………

"We will be back…"

And with that last threat hanging in the air, the remaining twelve members of Organization XIII departed, leaving their youngest, and thirteenth member behind until he came to and was expected to return himself; either that or Xemnas would surely track the youngster down………

"Mai!"

Leon rushed to where his unconscious friend lay………

* * *

"Mmmm…"

Roxas opened his eyes in a familiar room, even though he knew he had never set foot in the place before. He sat up quickly and rubbed the side of his head where he'd made contact with the pavement and spoke to himself, unaware of anyone else's presence;

"Owww…that fucking hurt!"

The teen's feet had only touched the cold stone floor of Merlin's house when another pain struck, this time a stinging force made contact with his left cheek, he jumped back a few steps;

"Namine! _**What the hell**_!"

Roxas ducked as the blonde teenager made another couple of swipes for him;

"How _**could**_ you!?"

"I didn't have a choice in the matter! D'you seriously think I wanted to go back? I was the one who broke ranks first time round!"

"Then why go back?"

"You try and say no to Xemnas when Lexaeus and Xaldin are with him…they're fucking massive!"

Namine remained silent, obviously between two minds of whether to trust Roxas or not;

"Namine, I'm sorry…but if I didn't go they were gonna come after you………and Kairi…"

Everyone watched on in silence as Roxas wrapped his arms around, evidently; his girlfriend.

Roxas placed his chin on top her head as he swayed her silently;

"I'd never hurt you………obviously that isn't a mutual agreement though!"

At this the blonde Keyblade wielder tentatively rubbed his left cheek, which had now turned a bright red colour due to the received slap.

"Talk…"

Roxas turned; now aware of the people who had gathered within the confines of the small house;

"Huh?"

Leon grabbed the youngster by his collar and rammed him hard, up against the wall behind him;

"Don't _huh _us!"

"Get the _**fuck **_off me!"

Roxas acted on instinct; using the wall at his back as leverage, he raised one of his legs between him and Leon and thrust outwards; sending the angered young man sprawling on his butt…

All the inhabitants of the small house stared in shock at the blonde teenager, from what they'd heard; he was a force to be reckoned with during a battle, but all along they'd been under the impression he was on _**their**_ side………Roxas noticed their confused, yet accusing eyes as he looked around, guard still mentally up…

"If you're gonna treat me like a piece of shit, then why should I be all nice and friendly with you?"

"You're a Nobody-"

The rest of Rufus ShinRa's comment was lost as Roxas spun to face him, anger, or the acting of, evident in his vivid blue eyes;

"Well done, at least you notice the obvious things! And what, because of that; I'm not equal to you? Is that it? I didn't ask for this, I never asked to exist, I only exist because he was willing to do anything for her!"

At this he pointed towards Sora and Kairi, both of which looked away, refusing to meet the young Nobody's eyes…Roxas went on;

"I am _**so **_sick of being treated as nothing! Would you guys ever get a goddamn grip and look around; the worlds don't revolve around you, who do you think's been keeping the majority of Nobodies and Heartless from entering this place, at their own risk I might add?"

"Calm de fuck down yo!"

Roxas turned as a new voice was heard above his ranting, he stopped dead in his tracks upon seeing a strangely familiar face, though there was a few differences in this young man's features, there was no denying the similarities;

"Axel…you're meant to be back at the base-"

Reno looked dumbly from where he sat on a wooden table to the teenager; he didn't look familiar, and he was pretty sure they hadn't met before…

"Not me yo………"

Roxas persisted;

"Have you an _**other**_?"

"An oder wat yo?"

Roxas grinned as Reno screwed up his eyebrows, trying his best to comprehend what the teen meant, a thought coming to mind;

"_**Alex **_said to say well…"

An audible thump was heard as the redheaded Turk fell from the table, evidently with shock;

"How de hell d'you know Alex kid?!"

"I don't, I know an _**Alex**_, but I know an_** Axel**_…"


	3. Explanations and Discoveries

"What happened her?"

Roxas' eyes fell upon that of the unconscious Mai, she was lain out on a bed in one of the bedrooms, she certainly didn't look well; her face had gone pale, she had a fever and seemed to be having severe nightmares…Sora was the one to answer, somewhat ashamedly;

"Saix pushed her through a portal and she came out in front of Xemnas, she got hit with the Keyblade…d'you know what's goin on with her now?"

Roxas nodded grimly;

"Yep, the one thing Xemnas wanted; you know that the Keyblade can unlock any lock, yeah?"

Sora nodded his head as he looked at Mai, then to Roxas as he continued;

"Well, her memories are being unlocked, I have no idea how long it's going to take, it depends on what sort of heart she has, but she'll be like this until it's over, after that; any memories that were locked within her heart will be released…"

Mai flinched as an image shot through her mind where she lay; _a young man with silver-grey hair stood alongside a young woman with mid-length blonde hair, in his arms was a young girl, appearing to be no more than five; she too had the same colour hair as him and irises of the same hue…all three were smiling happily………_

Three names suddenly echoed within her head; _Xehanort, Arleen _(BTW; I know I used this name in my other story; Like Father, Like Daughter, for Reno's daughter's name, but when I was messing around with the letters of Larxene without the x, I discovered they spell it aswell, weird eh?)

* * *

"Hey look punching-bag's awake!"

Axel grinned as Roxas appeared in the crystal fissure, accompanied by all that had inhabited Merlin's small house (not Mai…DUH!!!).

"Fuck off Axel! I'm not in the mood for jokes!"

Axel frowned exaggeratedly as he spoke;

"Awww, and why's Roxas such a mood killer this night-time?"

"Coz I've to go back now, and Xemnas is still probably in a fucking bad mood! And I'll get the brunt of it as usual!"

"Long time no see yo!"

Axel's face turned to one of utter shock as he recognised that voice,

"Reno?"

"Yup…heard ya changed your name yo, Alex?"

"Yeah, but not by choice, it's Axel now, got it memorized?"

At this Marluxia suddenly began laughing his butt off out of the blue for no apparent reason;

"Wat's wrong wit him yo?"

Axel shot the young man a murderous glance;

"Apart from controlling flowers, nothing much………hey, flower-power, give it a rest already!"

Marluxia managed to stop laughing after a few minutes, then looked to the two redheaded brothers;

"_Yo_…_got it memorized_…has everyone in your family got a catchphrase?!"

* * *

Rufus looked from Reno to Axel, at a total and complete loss. Axel eyed his older brother suspiciously for several moments before speaking again;

"You're a Turk. You told me you'd never work for ShinRa, that they were a load of rich-pricks…and that you wouldn't be caught dead working for a pompous gimp like Tseng Tothva!" (Tseng don't have one so I gave him a surname, I use this one in most my fics)

Tseng turned to the youngest of the Turks, and the laziest, and the cheekiest, and the most irresponsible………the list goes on, and on!

"You said _**what**_!?"

"Ya fucker Alex, fuck it, I mean Axel or wat ever your goddamn name is now! Can't ya keep your trap shut?"

"Yeah, but it's more interesting to see what happens when I don't………"

"What happened ya yo? I havn't seen ya wit…eh…hold on a minute………"

Axel watched as his brother attempted to count along his fingers, then made a confused face and looked back up;

"Look, years yo!"

At this Axel's smart attitude seemed to disappear somewhat; remembering the reasons behind his being number eight of Organization XIII………

"Axel!"

Roxas pushed his friend back as the second redheaded youth fell to the ground as a result of a punch from him………

"Wat de fuck woz dat for yo!"

Reno stared up from where he now sat on the ground with a split lip; if he'd been paying attention he could of most certainly side-stepped the blow, but, obviously, he hadn't!

"You made me this Reno!"

"How de hell did I do it whatever you're on about, I kinda lost track of ya after joinin de Turks, what'd I do?"

"You pressed the button; hundreds upon hundreds, if not thousands of people died because of you, because of you Mom is dead, because of you Johnny's dead, because of you half of the slums were killed! Because of you I got hurt, and guess what; heartless are in Gaia, and they target the hurt; on the physically hurt and broken hearted! How do you think I felt when I found out my own brother was responsible for my, no; _**our**_ mother's death and _**our **_little brother's death, eh? Ask them what happens to hearts consumed by anger, hurt and…hatred?!"

At this Axel pointed towards Kairi and Namine, Namine took the initiative to explain;

"The heart and body separate; creating a Heartless and a Nobody."

Reno just stared at the hard stony ground where he sat, reality of it all sinking in;

"Johnny's dead………"

"Yeah, he was only fifteen Reno; I bet it didn't even cross your mind up until now what had happened to us after you sent Sector 7 down on top of us, _**DID YOU**_!"

"Axel, calm down…"

"This is none of your business Roxas, so butt out!"

Roxas pushed against Axel's arm, positioning himself, once again, between the brothers and stared straight at Axel;

"Either calm the fuck down or go back to the stronghold, you're too dangerous when you're in a bad mood like this, you end up losin it!"

As if on cue the air within the crystal fissure began to grow hotter as Axel's temper did the same; flames appeared around the twenty-year-old pyromaniac………

Roxas ducked as flames shot over his head, why the hell did everyone seem to have a fixation with hurting him all of a sudden, first Xemnas, then Namine, then Leon stuck him up against a wall and now Axel was venting his anger out on him;

"Demyx, a bit of help over here!?"

"Yeah, I'm comin; don't get your knickers in a twist!"

Marluxia watched in amusement as Axel was sent colliding with one of the walls of the crystal fissure as a result of a blast of water, then turned back to the crowd of onlookers;

"And that concludes tonight's entertainment, no flash photography please………"

He simply rolled his eyes as the other three began arguing amongst themselves;

"Look; ignore them three, it must be that time of month or something………anyhow; getting to the point now people; we're with the Organization, but we're not! Confusing; yes! But we had no choice but to rejoin; Xemnas was right; nothingness does go on forever; so when you lot defeated us lot; we faded back into darkness; but not being made of darkness and being, literally; nothing; we were expelled from the endless confines of darkness and ended up in The World That Never Was; all except for punching-bag over there and Namine; Xemnas used his power over nothingness to draw you from your other's, but this time; it's a permanent separation, meaning; you can't fuse back together again, don't ask my why; Xemnas knows the specifics – Shut the fuck up you three!"

Marluxia spun as the rowing grew louder………

* * *

"Fuck you lot, I don't have to listen to this shit!"

Axel turned and summoned a portal with the intention of walking through it; but his feet wouldn't move…he looked down to see them, literally; rooted to the spot, thick roots of plants bound his legs to the very spot,

"Marluxia! What the hell're you playing at!?"

"Simple really Axel, we've enough shit to be dealing with right now than you acting the cunt aswell, so either calm down and apologise or stay rooted there until I feel like letting you go………I've got all the time in the world – you don't! Xemnas has you and Roxas on strict instructions after you're little stunts; so say sorry and make up…"

"Fuck you-"

"Ah-ah now! Have to be nice to me or else you're gonna be rooted there for a long time yet hothead!"

Axel reverted to shooting daggers at the plant controlling Organization member, Marluxia simply grinned as he continued;

"We hate the Organization so; our motto is; If you can't beat them; join them………and then beat them………Roxas never liked the Organization, Axel didn't either, I'll didn't and I'll go with whoever's most probable to win, and Demyx…well; he's a whole different kettle of fish! If you want our help; then we need your help; it's pretty simple really, you scratch my back; I'll scratch yours; Mai is going to have to join the Organization whether you lot agree or not; simple reason; no; Xemnas and Larxene aren't technically her parents, but Xehanort and Arleen were, ie; their originals, you'll get the full story off Diz when he comes with Mickey………we'll be back after that, see you for now though!"

And with that all five youths summoned portals and vanished, with Demyx laughing his butt off as Marluxia released the roots that bound Axel where he stood.


	4. A Change Of Heart

"Hey, there's a man dressed in Red and a little mouse here, and two other fella's yo!"

It was a week later and all heads within the confines of Xemnas's old laboratory turned as Reno appeared in the door, closely followed by two figures; Ansem (Diz) and King Mickey………Sora felt his heart leap as he recognised the two other figures;

"Donald! Goofy!"

The two looked up immediately, delight evident on their faces as they recognised the spiky-haired youth………

Riku stared at Ansem; he had a funny feeling that the man knew more of Mai, than any other person there………

"Talk Diz………"

The man looked to the youngster whom had once worked alongside him, confusion evident in his crimson eyes;

"I do not understand Riku………"

"Xehanort and Arleen…their kid ………"

Regret seemed to consume the depths of Ansem's fiery eyes as realization dawned…Riku went on;

"There's a seventeen-year-old girl lying in a bed, back at Merlin's, Leon's with her; she looks suspiciously like Xemnas…and he also seems to know her – What the hell is going on?!!"

The red-clothed man heaved a heavy sigh as his irises trained themselves to the ground near his two feet - he had never in his wildest dreams expected Xemnas, nor Larxene to seek out the girl, but; it seemed some things just refused to be forgotten………

"When I lived here; so did my apprentices; Xehanort, Ienzo, Dilan, Braig, Aeleus and Even. But so did another member of Organization XIII; Larxene, or more so, her other did; Arleen. Arleen and Xehanort were romantically involved, of which resulted a pregnancy; Mai. Mai and her parents lived in Radiant Garden up until all of five years ago; when I realised that my apprentices were, in fact; turning on me; I feared the worst, and through my ignorance; the child's heart became tainted by darkness as her father's and mother's hearts became corrupt………I sent Mai, then twelve to live in Twilight Town, with no recollection of her past and a new persona; there she made acquaintances with that of the same youths Roxas did………but it seems that after the Organization's downfall…and my own; she was returned to here; her original home………"

"_So __**that's**__ what happened!"_

Several heads turned as the unwillingly familiar voice echoed around the confines of the study; Marluxia's………three separate black portals suddenly appeared, out of which walked three of the double-crossers………

Sora surveyed the three with an air of uncertainty, then came to notice the lack of the fourth, and, probably, the only one of which he was willing to trust…

"Where's Roxas?"

Axel was the one to answer this query;

"He's on look out back at the stronghold…we couldn't have Xemnas following us…got it memorized?"

* * *

"Mmmm………"

Mai's eyes flickered open and she found herself staring at the stone ceiling of Merlin's house; confusion clouded her mind – but only for a second until she remembered what had happened…she remembered; remembered _**everything**_………

"Mai, you're awake!"

Leon stood up quickly from where he'd been seated at the computer in Merlin's as his friend came down the stairs………

* * *

"If that Keyblade thingy releases all locks…or whatever; that means she's not gonna be on your side when she comes-to now peoples!"

Sora snapped his around towards the water-controlling member of Organization XIII, as several thoughts ran through his head simultaneously, he decided to ask the most obvious of them;

"What d'you mean?"

Demyx shrugged; it seemed obvious to him………

"Well, if her heart was tainted by darkness when she was younger; then won't that darkness be unlocked too?"

Both Riku and Sora looked at each other; both only then realising what dangers now presented themselves………Sora turned quickly back to face Axel, deciding there and then to trust these five double-crossers; if they were willing to put their lives, or more so; existence, on the line; then surely they could trust them………Axel had helped him find Kairi after all, and had died thanks to a kamikaze attack on hoards of Nobodies in a bid to help Roxas – Sora.

"Can you get Roxas?"

"I can try………"

And with that the pyromaniac summoned a portal and walked through it………

* * *

"Mai………"

Leon watched his friend as she walked past him…something wasn't right; she didn't seem to be acting like herself; usually she would have slagged him already………He grabbed her by the wrist as she made to walk out through the heavy wooden door of the small house…

Mai spun on the young man, of whom she had no recollection; nor did she want any………Before Leon had a chance to react, a force sent him hurtling backwards; colliding sharply with that of the stone wall that backed the small cottage…Mai watched as this young man fell to the ground; out for the count………

* * *

"What's goin on?"

Several heads turned as the voice of the fourth ally was heard; Roxas walked out through a portal and quickly noticed the strained silence that had enveloped the study, Sora stood and walked towards the door, only stopping to face his Nobody;

"Can darkness be unlocked?"

"Why? Why d'you want to know that?"

"Mai's heart was tainted by it when she was younger; could the Keyblade have released it again?"

Roxas felt his eyes widen as realisation dawned on him, he turned and walked out the door, making for the quickest exit of the underground laboratory………

"What're you playing at?!"

Roxas turned to face the numerous faces; and Axel as he continued to walk…

"The answer is yes; it can be unlocked…and that's why Xemnas wants her. No lovey-dovey Daddy shit – he wants her to control the heartless………"

Marluxia stopped dead in his tracks as he too knew the meaning of the statement…things weren't supposed to go this way; her _**actually**_ having an element changed everything, she'd ally with those who stood against light………

"Fuck it………Roxas, if she has control over them, and sides with Xemnas; then he can use her to resurrect Kingdom Hearts …her memories in the realm of light'll be blocked by the darkness; she's not gonna remember any of this, if we're gonna bring him down once and for all; then we _**need**_ her! We need something to trigger her memories of when she was younger; before the darkness came along………"

"I know already; but if I can get to her before she regains consciousness, maybe I've a chance of combating the darkness in her heart with light………"

As the two youths continued to talk; Cid turned to face his friends, his blue eyes shimmering with uttermost confusion;

"Anyone know wat the hell dere on about y'all?!"

Several heads shook in unison and agreement to Cid's comment; this was way over their heads! Sephiroth, Remnants, Tsviets, Calamities that fall from the sky; they could deal with; but hearts, Nobodies that existed but didn't actually exist, and Heartless that weren't heartless and actually had darkness consumed hearts was just way too hard to keep track of!

* * *

"I think it's safe to say she's awake………"

Not one person even bothered to comment on Demyx's statement of the bluntly obvious as they stared at the hoards upon hoards of heartless that now inhabited the bailey………

Roxas stepped forward, drawing both Oblivion and Oath-keeper, his fellow Organization members followed suit with their weapons; he smirked, despite himself, as Mai came into view amongst the countless shadows, her twin samurai swords raised;

"Protect yourselves; we'll handle her and the heartless………"

* * *

_**A/N; Well, what did ye think?? Ooooh...is Roxas gonna get his butt handed to him again? Is Reno and Axel ever gonna talk to eachother again? Is anyone gonna bother to check on Leon:-P**_


	5. A Battle Of Contrasts

"Come and get me then…"

Mai smirked darkly as she spoke, and, as if obeying an unsaid order; numerous shadows turned their, seemingly, glowing gaze to the four black-coated individuals………

* * *

"Fuck sake! I liked it better when these things were working _**with**_ the Organization!"

Axel ducked as another heartless made a swipe his way; he back-tracked as several more attempted to do the same;

"Roxas; you're light – you fight her!"

"I'm a bit tied up right now!"

Roxas took several steps backwards as a large amount of heartless locked onto him as their target; aware that he was the one wielding the Keyblades...

* * *

_"Mai!"_

Leon woke with a start as the thought of his friend shot through his mind, he sat up on the cold stone floor of Merlin's small cottage, confusion clouding his judgment..._Mai had attacked him...but she was his friend...the Mai he had known would never have intentionally harmed one of her friends...but the look in her eyes just before he'd been sent colliding with the wall; __**disgust...

* * *

**_

_**"Roxas!"**_

Namine allowed the cry to escape her mouth as countless heartless swarmed the young Key-bearer...Riku caught the teenager around the waist and swung her wide as she made to run towards the mass of black beings; if she went she'd only make matter's worse.

But Namine needn't have worried; with a blinding flash the swarm of heartless were obliterated; unable to stand up to the power of light that the youngest member of Organization XIII wielded.

* * *

"Mai, what the fuck are you doing!?"

Mai turned her gaze towards the source of the voice; Leon. The dark smirk dropped from her face; replaced by a look of impatience;

"You again? I thought I dealt with you already?!"

Leon watched in shock as his friend raised a palm in his direction; a blast aiming straight for him...

* * *

"Hey, Roxas; deal with her before she kills someone!"

"I'm fucking trying! Get off my back Marluxia; this stuff is hard!"

Mai smiled disturbingly as she allowed a blast of dark energy to be sent hurtling towards the young man she had first encountered...

"I wouldn't celebrate just yet girl!"

Roxas quickly positioned himself in the line of fire and raised one on his black-gloved hands, summoning and releasing a blast of light towards the oncoming darkness...the two contrasting elements met half-way; each the opposite of the other and fighting to over come its' shadow element; Roxas struggled to keep his side of the fight up; Mai was more powerful that he had expected; he gritted his teeth as his element began to drain at his strength;

"I can't...keep this...up for...much longer..."

Both Sora and Riku raised their respective Keyblades as they realised that Roxas wouldn't be capable of defeating the youngster on his own; each one sending a beam of revered and mythical power towards the teen that was now situated about twenty-feet above them in the night's sky...Axel caught the girl as she fell from the inky backdrop; the beams of light and Roxas' blast overpowering her and rendering her unconsciouss once more, and as a result of her defeat; all heartless retreated; back to whatever confines of darkness it was that they dwelt within.

Roxas grinned slightly, mainly out of knowing that Mai wouldn't be the only one who'd need carrying back to the stronghold; he was spent...

* * *

Demyx groaned as he noticed the younger blonde's eyes rolled back in their sockets and his legs buckle beneath him...

"Why does he always do that after using his power alot?! He's too fucking heavy to be carrying back all the time!"

Marluxia shook his head in an exasperated fashion as he made his way towards where Roxas lay...

"Check if he's still alive you thick fuck Demyx! He put way too much into that attack than he should have, she's stronger than we thought..."

* * *

"Anyone dead?"

Demyx looked around as Axel approached, the girl's limp frame in his arms;

"Tell you in a minute..."

The green-eyed, forgetful member of Organization XIII, bent down and examined the younger teen, then hoisted his limp frame up from the ground on which it had been lying, Marluxia took the initiative to support the Key-bearer's other side as Demyx shook his head slighlty, Marluxia turned back to face the fiery-haired youth, a slightly worried look on his face...

"No, but he's bad; the idiot used too much of his energy in the blast; he's gonna be between for a while at the very least; I'll get Zexion and Vexen to take a look at him when we get back; they might know what to do; either way; we've to get him back quickly, otherwise his system's gonna start failing...and if she comes too again; we're fucked! She's way too powerful; Xemnas is even going to have a tough time with her at this rate..."

Axel nodded his head solemnly; the turned to face the dumbfounded crowd;

"Explain later; haven't got the time to now..."

And with that; he summoned a corridor of darkness, of which all Organization youths walked through, or; as in Mai's and Roxas' cases; were carried through...

A/N; What did ye think? Don't worry; I'll explain the whole "between" thing and why Roxas' system would start failing, in the next chapter, so don't be paranoid if you're getting confused!!!


	6. Reprucussions

_**A/N; Sorry for the long wait with this huns - I was babysitting and bored, and stumbled across this fic - so here's the latest from it!!**_

_**

* * *

**_

"What happened him?"

"She fucking did!"

Zexion turned his gaze to the limp figure in Axel's arms that Marluxia pointed to, they'd just finished doing all that was possible for the blonde haired Keyblade wielder, it was up to Roxas to fight now…most presumed a nobody to be, plain and simple; _**nothing**_……and they'd be right to do so; for that _**was**_ what a nobody was, but none ever thought of what caused those beings to be nothing – everything must be caused by something, even nothingness………a nobody was such due to their being consisting of half light and half darkness; exactly half of each element; earning a cancelling out effect that resulted in nothingness…the only catch being; when one side of the equation was screwed up – if could be fatal. Once one of the opposing elements over-powered the other; the nobodies system began to fail, and would continue to do so until it, either; managed to stabilize itself, or another element equalled the exchange out………either those possibilities, or; digression. The Organization had never had need to worry about such detrimental circumstances before – when any of the members had suffered from the overpowering of one element, be it darkness or light; they had always been capable or rectifying the matter simply and effectively…Roxas had used his control over the element of light to either down the level of it or up the level of it in the nobody in question as required…but now the problem arose – there was no member of the Organization with power of the element of darkness – so now that the flaw had befallen the youngest member…there was no one capable of rectifying his levels…by putting all of his energy into the blast against Mai's; the Key of Destiny had allowed his levels to slip; darkness now over-shadowed his level of light………and unless it rectified itself rapidly; the Organization would be down a member………

Zexion glanced quickly to the figure in Axel's arms, then hastily did a double-take as he immediately recognised her features – but not from when they had all seen her, and the others, in Radiant Garden…sure, her appearance had rung bells within the confines of his deepest recollections then also, but it was only then that the Cloaked Schemer finally realised why Mai caused him to under-go a sense of déja-vu – he _**had**_ seen her before, years ago, when he had been a different person………

"Is that the Superior's daughter?"

"Yup, and she's dangerous…fucking evil! He's gonna have some fun with her! It took Roxas and two Keyblades to take her down…"

Zexion snapped his head around to face the owner of the voice as he registered the number of weapons and the incinuation behind the words…an ever so slight smirk pulling at the corner of his mouth as he spoke directly to the Melodious Nocturne;

"What do you mean _**Keyblades**_?

Demyx grimaced as he realised what he had just let slip could prove detrimental to their cover…he always had had a habit of that – talking first and thinking later, when it was too late to do so! But, by the grace of God, Axel noticed his hopeless friend's dilemma and jumped in with a plausible excuse;

"Shit-for-brains means Roxas' ones; he has two Keyblades, got it memorized?"

The mysterious youth shook his unusually hued head of hair; grinning enigmatically as he spoke in a low tone, eyes watching the door and ears pricked for even the slightest of hints that would alert him to the sharp-shooting Xigbar eavesdropping yet again………

"Yes, I do have that memorized Axel, but I know that those aren't the blades you're talking about…I am aware of your coalition with The Warriors of The Keyblade, and I know that you four plan to betray the Organization………"

The silence that followed Zexion's words was hauntingly deafening as Demyx literally froze where he stood, as did the pink haired Marluxia; both now aware of the position they were now placed in…Zexion was ranked IV, one of the highest ranks within their thirteen places…and not only that; but one of the founding members of Organization XIII, one who did not go against the rules, abided by sanctions and never stood against the Superior, so now what chance did they stand? But – as both Demyx and Marluxia silently considered the best way to make a quick escape – Axel smirked as he stood from the wall he'd been leaning against…unlike the other two; he had picked up on the hint of amusement that had laced the Cloaked Schemer's voice…and without so much as another moment's thought about the matter, for fear of doubts setting in - the pyromaniac threw caution to the wind;

"You and who else?"

The purple-blue haired cloaked youth leaned back against the wall behind him, an action that was in slight contrast to the one Axel had just did, but also; one that showed, maybe not directly, but under-lined the fact that he still ranked higher than them, Zexion slowly crossed his arms across his chest, still making sure to keep his senses on edge in search of an additional listener…it was easy to pick out Xigbar's scent – the man had no sense of personal hygiene………

"None, just me………"

"And what're you gonna do about it Zexion? Alert Xemnas?"

Zexion thought hard for several minutes, switching his gaze to the floor as he did so, several minutes elapsed in that fashion - ending, eventually; in the Nobody simply looking back up and shrugging his cloaked shoulders in an honest gesture – he seriously didn't know………

"I haven't reached a decision yet………I do not wish to be vanquished from this realm once more, but I also see no other place for a nobody to exist than in this stronghold; sure – the prospect of actually being capable of existing outside of this world is more than welcoming and tempting…but unlikely………I will hold off from alerting the Superior for now, until I have come to a decision regarding to which side my loyalties lie on………for now though; I will alert him that she is here………"

Marluxia merely shook his head in disbelief as Zexion summoned a portal, took Mai from Axel's arms, and took his leave………leaving three very confused Nobodies in his wake.

"What we do now so? I'm bored…don't look at me like that!"

Axel groaned as he kept his gaze fixed to the idiot that was Demyx…he seriously was as thick as two short planks put together at times! But, whereas Axel was willing to put up with the _special _blonde – Marluxia had had his day's fill of him! With as simple shake of his head and a few choice words; the pink-haired assassin was gone through a portal of his own………

"You're some thick-fuck Demyx!"

* * *

_**A/N; Next chapter; back to the gang in Radiant Garden/Hollow Bastion...**_


End file.
